“You’ve Got Skills”

I’ve just watched Season 1: Ep. 11 of Luke Cage and I need to talk about this scene between these two awesome powerful women.

After handcuffing Shades to the pipe, Claire collapses onto the barrel. Misty turns.

Misty Knight: You’ve got skills.

Claire Temple: You too.

Misty Knight: My father.

Claire Temple: My uncle.

They laugh together.

Now, ordinarily, I’d be delighted at a scene like this. The two women just worked together with some scrappy but skilled fighting to take down one of the baddest men around. He was in prime condition, and they were both at the end of their ropes, with Misty even having lost so much blood she’d nearly passed out. So I can forgive that it was two on one.

But the thing that bothers me is that they reference two male figures that taught them to fight. Why not their mothers, or aunts, or older sisters? Why not, “High school wrestling team.”? Perhaps it’s a generational thing. Perhaps in twenty years we’ll have female characters that fight well and cite their mothers’ teaching. For now, I suppose I should be pleased enough that these women are sensibly clothed and fighting at all.

Even so, I think they missed a great opportunity. Misty could have said, “My father.” And Claire could have replied, “My mother!” Which would be neat, because we, as an audience, have met her mother, who, while she’s on the small side, is certainly a spitfire. So it would’ve been a nice reference that made sense.